Merge of Southwet and Air Tran Airways Case Study

Merge of Southwet and Air Tran Airways - Case Study Example By January 26, 2013 codesharing has already begun and this allowed the two airlines to share itineraries. It is expected that by 2015, the more dominant brand in the merger which is Southwest Airlines will be adopted as the common brand thus removing the Air Tran brand from the merger with its operation being absorbed by Southwest. II. Introduce the companies involve Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines is the world’s largest carrier that caters to the lower end segment of the aviation industry and services to 79 destinations in 39 states in the United States. It is also the biggest operator of Boeing 737 worldwide with over 550 planes in service. It employs more than 46,000 employees and manages more than 3,400 flights a day. Air Tran Airways Airtran Airways was founded by Airtran Corporation which operated as Northwest Airlink carrier in Minneapolis and Detroit which later purchase Conquest Sun. The company grew and acquired 11 Boeing 737’s and served 24 cities in th e East and Midwest region catering to the lower segment of the market. It was later spun off by Mesaba and formed its holding company Airways Corporation which was later acquired by ValuJet Inc. and was later renamed to its AirTran Holdings. The name AirTran Airways was retained after the merger with ValuJet Inc. Before the merger with Southwest Airlines, AirTranAirways served more than 70 cities coast to coast. It also cater to the Carribean and Mexico market and flew 700 flights per day with over 8,500 crew catering to almost 25 passengers per year (AirTran Airways). III. Identify the period the company went through the merge  and reasons for the merge. give figures if possible.   The merger between Air Tran Airways and Southwestern airline is more of a takeover of Southwestern to Air Tran to expand the coverage of Southwester Airlines. By acquiring Air Tran, Southwest Airline would be able to cover flights that were not previously available to Southwestern Airline such as Atl anta - Hartsfield route that is also the world’s largest airport. Having Air Trans Airways would enable Southwest Airlines to have an access to Air Tran’s Atlanta hub and therefore a beachhead in the market that it covers (CBS News). Services previously unique to Air Tran will now be available to Soutwest Airline among those are flights in Dayton, Akron-Canton, and Washington National. In effect, the acquisition would give Southwest Airlines â€Å"a leg up in the market† by having an access to major city airports from alternate airports. As Bob Jordan, Chief Commercial Officer at Southwest Airlines and President of AirTran, said in a statement issued to The Democrat and Chronicle. "With a connected network, we can offer customers more itineraries, more destinations, more low fares, and a taste of what's to come once the integration is complete† (Trejos). IV. Brief description of the changes made   By having an access to airports and services unique only to Air Tran Airways, Southwest Airline is now able to add service to cities and airports it did not previously cover such as Dayton, Akron-Canton, and Washington National. Consequently, the merger also enabled Southwest Airlines, being the dominant entity in the merger, to remove service areas that were previously exclusive to Air Tran. The cities that were removed from their route were Allentown, Pa.; Asheville, N.C.; Atlantic City; Bloomington/Normal, Ill.; Charleston, W. Va.; Dallas/Fort Worth; Harrisburg, Pa.; Huntsville, Ala.; Knoxville, Tenn; Lexington, Ky.;